"Lord Fan, what do you mean?" Zhao Yunbo, the magistrate of Xilin County, had a stern look on his face as he snatched the Thousand Mile Telecommunication Note from the hands of the county magistrate.
"Is it necessary to mobilize troops and mobilize people like this when asking the Southern Patrol to go to Wushan to control the floods?"
Fan Zhenquan's voice came from the thousand-mile telegraph, "Master Zhao, water control is not a trivial matter."
"This matter will inevitably require a large amount of manpower, material and financial resources to be accomplished."
Qutang County Magistrate Zhou Jize sneered,
"Our three counties can provide human, material and financial resources. The three of us allow you to ask for help. All you need is to send a few Ministry of Industry officials from the Nanxun Town Fu Division to complete the water control!"
"Is it possible that Mr. Fan wants to take this opportunity to embezzle the land of our three counties?"
Wei Hongkui, the magistrate of Wuling County, signaled the county magistrate to step aside first and said to the Qianli Telephone Note,
"For hundreds of years, the imperial court has used countless methods, but none of them succeeded."
"Once you act rashly, you must be prepared to be counterattacked by luck."
Fan Zhenquan said helplessly, "Three adults, it's too much to make a fuss out of a molehill."
"I just do it for the people of Wushan County."
"The three adults should know more about the situation in Wushan County."
"To be fair, the current three counties of Wushan County alone are not enough to control floods."
"I hope so..." Zhao Yunbo and the others snorted coldly, then threw down the Thousand Miles Transmission Note and strode away.
On the cloud boat,
Fan Zhenquan put down the Thousand-mile Transmission Talisman in his hand and smiled helplessly at Li Changan,
"Your Excellency has also heard that the magistrates of those three counties treat any outsider as a savage beast."
"If the flooding hadn't been too serious, we wouldn't have allowed outsiders to come in."
Li Changan nodded.
Although the conversation just now was simple, its meaning was self-evident.
It seems that this flood control trip may not go as smoothly as imagined.
"Master Fan might as well tell me now about the situation in the three counties of Wushan County." Li Chang'an said, "Sir Fan just didn't seem to have much hope for the three counties of Wushan County."
Fan Zhenquan sighed softly, "When talking about Wushan County, we have to mention the people here."
"I came here three years ago, and I have a deep understanding of the ignorance that successive officials have said, and how far it can go."
"They listened to the words of the magistrates of the three counties, even to the point of blind obedience."
"The three counties of Wushan County started worshiping the Yanshui Dragon God twelve years ago, that is, the third year of Shengchang."
"A small sacrifice is held every three days, and a big festival is held every month."
"Sacrifice alone takes a lot of time and wastes money and people. The people of Wushan County live miserable lives, but they are still obsessed with worshiping the Dragon God."
Li Changan raised his eyebrows, "Worship the Dragon God?"
As soon as Fan Zhenquan mentioned the word "Dragon God", he unconsciously looked serious.
"I don't know what kind of ecstasy soup the magistrates of the three counties poured into their respective people."
“It’s okay to worship the Dragon God’s tablet on weekdays.”
"What is truly incomprehensible is the monthly festival."
Li Changan leaned forward slightly, signaling Fan Zhenquan to continue.
Fan Zhenquan took a deep breath and said, "The monthly festival is a joint festival of the three counties."
"Xilin County has a cow god, Qutang County has a goat god, and Wuling County has a pig god."
"This is the highest standard Tailao sacrificial ceremony." Li Changan's head jumped, "Nowadays, only the royal family can use it."
"How dare the magistrates of these three counties perform sacrifices with Tailao every month?"
Fan Zhenquan shook his head, with a hint of bitterness in his voice, "It's more than that."
"The monthly ritual of sacrificing to the Dragon God requires nine pairs in addition to Tai Lao..."
"Nine pairs of what?" Li Changan looked over.
"Nine, nine pairs..." Fan Zhenquan seemed to be reluctant to speak, but under Li Changan's gaze, he gritted his teeth and said, "Nine pairs of boys and girls!"
"Three pairs from each county!"
Boom!
Li Changan's breathing stagnated for an instant, and there seemed to be countless thunderclaps in his mind.
Nine pairs of boys and girls!?
What kind of ridiculous sacrifice is this?
They actually used human sacrifices, and they were still virgins!
Li Changan narrowed his eyes slightly, with a complicated look in his eyes.
Shocked, puzzled, ridiculous...and a murderous intention rising from the bottom of my heart.
The magistrates of the three counties should be dragged out and beheaded just for carrying out such sacrifices.
"There must be such a sacrifice once a month?" Li Changan asked.
Fan Zhenquan also had a hint of unbearability in his eyes, "Yes, once a month, never stopping."
"And at the beginning of every year, there is a grander sacrifice."
"The number of Tailao has doubled, and the number of boys and girls... has also doubled."
The more Li Changan listened, the angrier he became, "Didn't those people resist?"
"They simply don't take human life seriously and sacrifice boys and girls. Do those guys have any humanity at all?"
Fan Zhenquan smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Your Excellency, you are overthinking."
"The people in the three counties will even give birth to more children. If the boy or girl is selected to be the best, each family will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver."
"Moreover, these boys and girls were chosen when they were born, and the people did not have to bear the food, clothing, and daily necessities themselves."
"So the people of the three counties do not feel harmed, but feel proud of it."
Li Changan looked at Fan Zhenquan in disbelief.
But Fan Zhenquan's affirmative look made his heart suddenly feel like it was falling into an ice cave.
Human sacrifice, and human sacrifice on such a scale.
Not only did no one object, but they even responded to it.
Just thinking of such a scene made Li Changan's hair stand on end.
These beasts really deserve to be killed!
Fan Zhenquan continued, "They think that after offering sacrifices to the Dragon God, everything will go smoothly."
"This is indeed true. In the first eleven years, the harvests in the three counties of Wushan County were good, and there were no floods."
"But this year, the situation has taken a turn for the worse."
"Yanshui is really like a dragon god turning over. The floods come one after another, and Wushan County cannot support it at all."
"They all said that the Dragon God was angry, but the sacrifices became more pious."
Apart from absurdity, Li Changan couldn't find any other word to describe it.
Is this really the kind of brain a normal person should have?
But it happened that such people were not just one or two people, but the entire people of three counties.
This girl is going crazy!
…
After Zhao Yunbo, Zhou Jize and Wei Hongkui left the county government office, they looked at each other deeply and then separated.
The magistrate of Xilin County followed Zhao Yunbo closely and asked cautiously, "Sir, do you want to continue our sacrifice?"
The stern look in Zhao Yunbo's eyes flashed away, "Get ready as soon as you get back."
"It can't be delayed any longer."
"This time, we don't need three families to sacrifice together. Our Xilin Zhao family will worship alone. If we can introduce the Dragon God to Xilin County, our Zhao family's future will be limitless."
And such conversations also occurred at the other two houses.
Zhou Jize told the magistrate of Qutang County who was following him, "Prepare according to the New Year Festival specifications... no, it is even higher than the New Year Festival specifications."
"The number of cow gods, goat gods, and pig gods tripled, and the number of boys and girls also tripled."
"As long as the Dragon God can be introduced into our Qutang County, Qutang County will definitely be the land of dragon prosperity in the future."
"What does this little sacrifice mean?"
Wei Hongkui took one last look at the two families' backs as they left, sneered and shook his head, "These two guys definitely don't mean anything good."
"We must seize the time and must not let them get the upper hand."
"This is my first time to offer sacrifices alone in Wuling County. I must not make any mistakes."
"Has the dike been built?"
The men around him quickly replied, "Don't worry, sir, the dam will be completely closed once the sacrifices begin."
"Once the Dragon God enters Wuling County, it will never be possible to escape!"
"Very good!" Wei Hongkui's eyes flashed, "I'll start offering sacrifices as soon as I get back!"